


mistaken identity

by VolunteerFieryDantooinian



Category: Hooten & the Lady (TV)
Genre: Alex is a good friend, Comedy, Comfort No Hurt, Coming Out, Fluff, Hormones, No actual drug usage, Trans Character, Very short Drabble, technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 08:47:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11665665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VolunteerFieryDantooinian/pseuds/VolunteerFieryDantooinian
Summary: A routine T-shot goes rather awry.





	mistaken identity

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this was so short, I'm just not used to writing comedy. Let me know if you enjoyed it, and/or if you want more trans Hooten content!

The sun was hot in the middle of the goddamned desert, he'd decided, and for now, he'd enough of it. Alex wasn't even going to be able to come there until the next day, and he hadn't been able to find out much about good old Alexander except that he was guarded by an approximate shit ton of soldiers. So Hooten hopped in his borrowed jeep and took off, hoping tomorrow would be at least slightly less sunny. 

It was in the middle of driving from the excavation site back to the hotel that Hooten realized that, in the business and heyday of the week, he'd forgotten to give himself his weekly T-shot. Normally, that wouldn't be too much of a problem, but Alex had pointed out he'd been irritable this week earlier in the day, which usually happened if he forgot to do so. That part could just be Alex being Alex, though.

This wasn't a big deal; he didn't go to the doctor for it anymore. A while back he'd been taught how to do it himself and told he didn't really need to make the extra trip. Especially considering how much he travelled, missing too many doses could really mess up his emotions. He had done that before, and it really, really sucked. Big time. 

So, that wasn't something he wanted to do again. It wasn't a big deal, even though he wasn't out to Alex. They didn't share a room anyways, and on top of that she'd shown no signs of transphobia since he'd met her. If she had, he would have ditched her or talked to her in private by now. There weren't many things that really got to him anymore; he was generally easygoing, but  _that_ was something he wouldn't be able to stand. 

Hooten parked his car and calmly made his way through the lobby and up the stairs. He reached his room pretty quick, not particularly running but wanting to get this done and over with before Alex got back.

He undressed and rummaged through his bag, finally getting his hands on the sealed case of syringes and the vial of testosterone cypionate. Hooten went through the familiar motions, putting air into the vial so it would be easier to draw the gel out, et cetera. Sitting down on the bed, he flicked the syringe and expelled the air bubbles. This part always, always hurt like a motherfucker.

Carefully, he stabbed the needle into the usual spot on his thigh, wincing hard at the burning sensation. It was nothing compared to being shot, he consoled himself. Slowly, he started to administer the dose into his leg, when he heard the door open.  _Fuck._

"Hooten, we- Oh my GOD!" Alex exclaimed, staring at the needle sticking into his leg. "What in the hell are you doing?! No." She marched forward and went to pull it out, but he gestured at her with one hand while still holding the syringe in. 

"Alex, I-"

"No! Absolutely not, Ulysses Hooten, I don't want your pitiful excuses! You're going to kill yourself, you know that?" Her voice was high and shrill but most of all worried, and he frowned a little.

"Alex, let me finish this." He winced and finished injecting the T, pulled the needle out, and hissed in pain. Carefully, he rubbed his leg to distribute it and keep the area from fucking itself up too badly. She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"What the hell are you thinking?! Why are you doing this to yourself. The recklessness I could handle, the  _casual theft,_ even, but for God's sake, Hooten,  _drugs?_ Really?" She exclaimed, and he slid the needle into the used sharps container and nonchalantly closed the case. It took an immense amount of effort not to burst out laughing right there. Something in him said he might _want_  to do drugs after this encounter.

"Alex, I'm not on heroin. I promise." He chuckled, and she seemed to relax slightly, but then her face got tense.

"Are you alright, then? Is something wrong with you? Oh, please tell me you don't have malaria." She fussed, sitting down next to him on the bed, and he snorted. 

"I mean, it depends on who you ask." Hooten ventured, and her eyes narrowed in thought. Clearly she wasn't going to magically guess on her own, and he really didn't want her to.

"Alright, alright, Alex, I'm trans, ok? I was waiting to tell you, but considering what we get ourselves into on a routine basis, it didn't exactly take precedence." He sighed, slightly exasperated at the fact she seriously mistook his T for heroin. Everyone knew you didn't shoot heroin into your fucking leg.

Her eyes widened in understanding, a slight softness filling them. 

"Oh." 

Well, he was probably fucked. One-word answers were never good, especially not with somebody like Alex, who was kind of hard to read in the first place. "I'm glad you felt comfortable telling me," She said quietly, giving him a knowing smile. Then she got serious. "Are you binding safely? Do you need me to give you your shots, or do you want to keep doing them? Is that why you punched that guy at the bar?" She fired off questions left and right. Thank god they weren't the  _usual_ questions he got.

"Alex, it's alright, I got top surgery a few years ago. I do fine giving myself my shots, thank you very much, and yes, that's exactly why I punched that guy." He explained, and she nodded. His pride was slightly wounded at the idea of him needing someone else to do his shots, even though he secretly thought having her there would be kinda nice. (Not to hold his hand, no, the thought never once crossed his mind!)

"Are you doing ok?" She added, the words practically spilling out like she had no control over them. "It's just, a lot of shitty stuff has been going on recently, and I wanted to make sure." 

He felt an odd something in his chest, a soft feeling that wasn't exactly bad. And he thought about the question for a few seconds, genuinely considering it.

"Yeah, Alex. I'm ok." Hooten said quietly, and he gave her a very slight, distant hug. He wasn't usually one to get too emotional over comings-out, but it felt genuinely really good when it went well. "Right now? Yeah, I'm ok. All of that shit hurts, and so does my leg, but I'm ok." 

"Good."

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this Hooten was out of character and I'm sorry about that. Might write a follow-up for this.


End file.
